The Aliveness Audit

15 Minutes to Snapshot Your Life Today

Aliveness is that electric feeling of being fully here. Energized, engaged, awake to your own life.

Not just productive.

Not just busy.

Alive.

Here’s the catch: aliveness doesn’t happen until you take a clear-eyed look at where you are. It shows up when how you spend your time matches what really matters to you.

And most of us? We never stop to check.

👉 Want to skip straight to the tool? Complete your Aliveness Audit here.

The Problem With Success

From the outside, you look successful.

But inside? Something’s off.

You crushed it at work while your health tanked.You raised your family, but lost your work.You built a résumé that looks amazing, but work doesn’t feel like you.

Dan Sullivan, strategic coach, calls it the entrepreneurial trap: you get so good at one area of life that everything else quietly weakens.

You don’t even notice it. Until something cracks.

The Aliveness Audit is how you spot those cracks before they become a collapse.

Your Life, in 10 Dimensions

We have 10 dimensions to our life. Each dimension is a specific, important aspect of our life.

Here’s how the audit works:Rate your satisfaction (0–10) in each area. Don’t overthink. Go with your gut.

• Spirit – Meaning, purpose, inner life (not religious; it’s whether you feel connected to something bigger than yourself)

• Body – Health, energy, vitality

• Partnership – Love, intimacy, connection

• Family – Connection with close family

• Friendship – Community, belonging

• Money – Stability and security

• Work – Fulfillment, growth, contribution

• Growth – Learning, curiosity, evolution

• Joy – Fun, play, and lightness

• Space – Your physical environment

  
  

Connect the dots.

A balanced life makes a smooth circle. Most people’s wheels look like a deflated tire. Bulging in some spots, flat in others.

That lopsided wheel explains why you feel drained or stuck.You’re trying to roll through life on a flat.

What Your Audit Reveals

I did this exercise last fall.

Spirit? 8. Friendship? 7. Joy? 8.

Work? 3. Body? 3.

No wonder I felt exhausted. I was running on a few strong dimensions while dragging the weight (pun intended) of a couple weak ones.

I set goals and made small shifts in those two areas. Nothing dramatic at first. Just intentional.

But a few months in, I realized my job was the reason my Work score would never move up. When I had the opportunity, I intentionally transitioned out. Now I’m building work that energizes me.

I joined a group nutrition program and started moving my body 3x/week. One year later, I’m 30 pounds lighter, 18% less body fat.

Those 3s? Now 6s and 7s.

No overnight change. Small shifts compounding over time.

A friend rated Work at 9 but Spirit at 1, Body at 2, and Joy at 3. “I feel successful and empty at the same time,” he told me. His audit explained why: he’d optimized for external achievement while starving his internal life.

Entrepreneur Justin Welsh had the same realization. He was crushing it: ideal productivity systems, perfect morning routine, bigger titles, more money. But he wasn’t living his life mission. His turning point? A power pause to audit his life.

“I started treating myself like the #1 project that matters. My whole life changed after that.”

The data doesn’t lie. It just tells the truth you’ve been avoiding.

It’s Not About Balance. It’s About Alignment.

You don’t need perfect 10s. Life moves in seasons.

Sometimes work leads. Sometimes family does. That’s normal.

The question is: Are your imbalances intentional OR just happening by default?

Aliveness comes from alignment, not perfection.It’s knowing what matters most right now and designing your days around that.

The audit shows you where you’re living by design versus by accident.

It reveals the difference between a strategic sprint in your career (chosen, temporary, with an endpoint) and chronic neglect of your health (unconscious, compounding, quietly destructive).

What to Do With What You See

Here’s the audit process I use with clients and myself.

Five Simple Steps

1. Score each dimension honestly. Go with your gut. First number that comes up. No overthinking.

   
   

2. Pick your bottom two or three dimensions. These are where you’ll focus for the next 90 days. Pick two, three at most. Focus on just the ones draining the most energy.

3. Set one concrete goal for each. What would move this area from a 3 to a 5?Be specific:

   “Walk 20 minutes, four mornings a week” beats “get healthier.”

   “Save $500 a month” beats “improve finances.”

   
   

4. Identify your smallest first shift: a micro-move. What’s one thing you could do today in 10 minutes or less?That’s your starting point.

   
   

5. Take that step this week. The audit only works if you act.Even small. Even imperfect.

Your Move This Week

Carve out 15 minutes.

👉 Take the Aliveness Audit (and download it).

Rate your 10 dimensions.Choose your two or three focus areas.

Then ask yourself:

If I could improve just one area by two points in the next 21 days, which would make me feel most alive?

Jot it down. That’s your next move.

Because aliveness isn’t luck. It’s design.And once you see your wheel clearly, you can finally reshape it.

You’ve been optimizing everything around you.Maybe it’s time to optimize the one thing that actually matters: you.

Let’s build lives that roll smoothly.

— Carolyn

P.S. After your audit, hit reply and tell me:What surprised you most? Which score was lower than you expected?